It is the only thing we are able to hold onto; it is the only identity this country has in this day and age.

Neil Postman, the author of “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” says, “Las Vegas is a city entirely devoted to the idea of entertainment and as such proclaims the spirit of a culture in which all public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment.”

Postman was trying to point out that as a whole, our country has gone down the drain in regard to thought and academics – because entertainment is taking over the minds of American citizens.

If you asked a person who the fifth president of the United States was, you would get silence. If you asked the same person what happened on “The OC” or who won the Grammy for best song, you’ll catch the attention of everyone within a one-mile radius.

This is just one example of how people no longer have interest in things our country used to take pride in, such as education and politics – and they’ve replaced it with useless information.

People are instead turning to entertainment because it’s less work. Perhaps people are obsessed with entertainment and the media because they are insecure and don’t know whom they are.

Entertainment has not only destroyed citizens mentally, it has ruined their physical wellbeing too. With the constant portrayal of beauty as being thin, tan and clear-skinned, people are becoming more and more self-conscious.

Disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have become more common among teenagers and young adults as they desperately try to fit in and be socially accepted. They are killing themselves to be what the media defines as beautiful.

There is also concern for physical fitness due to the fact that people are staying at home and watching television for hours on end as opposed to going outside and doing some sort of physical activity such as baseball, soccer, even catch.

People are choosing to live the lives of others through television instead of going out and living their own.

Entertainment has changed the lifestyles of the American people as well. Instead of looking to the fathers, grandfathers, and other members of their family as role models and heros, they look to sports figures and celebrities.

As John Proctor in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” said: “You are pulling down heaven and raising a whore,” Americans are pulling down freedom and raising up a world that is morally bankrupt with no regard for the principles once held high within society.

People’s lives are passing them by as they choose to sit at home and watch television instead of doing something.

I was at a barbeque and I overheard someone saying they had to hurry home because a new episode of “The Bachelor” was on. Society is allowing the television to control their schedule. Why are people replacing their schedules with the TV guide?

America is nowhere near the great society it used to be due to the rising importance of the media and entertainment. People’s lives are being controlled and the individual thoughts and ideas that were once held high are disappearing.

How did the greatest country in the world allow itself to succumb to such a demeaning lifestyle?

Megan Arii-Heger, 16, is a junior at

La Serna High School who plans to attend college and major in psychology and behavioral science.